A Venda Bride For A Perfect Traditional Wedding

Oh My! Don’t you just love a Venda wedding.The gorgeous vibrant colours, the people and the food; it’s all so glorious. I have to admit though I have never attended a Venda wedding. However, I have been to Venda and found myself mesmerised by the kindness of the locals. It’s truly a magical place and if nothing else the mangoes from this part of the country are super delicious.

Venda Bride (Boitumelo) wore a figure-hugging mermaid dress and looked rather stylish in it. Her bridesmaids complimented her style with their short skirts and a bit of Venda fabric. It looks as though everyone had the best time ever. ENJOY!

The ProposalWe were meant to meet for breakfast (it happened to be the same day as his birthday), so when I got to his place, he had painted all his doors (with removal paint haha) and on the kitchen floor: “Will you marry me? Will you please be my wife?”. It was very private and intimate, I loved it.

Then on the 28th of October, we had our traditional wedding where the bride was being welcomed into the grooms family. I had never attended a Venda wedding before, so everything was new to me. From the moment I arrived, I had to walk on reed mats only, from the top of the street to the house. There was a lot of singing. The moment I got to the entrance of the house, I had to lie down (the female Venda greeting) as a sign of respect and also to symbolize that I am now a daughter of the house. Then I was taken into the house and taught how to wear the traditional Venda attire (Muwenda) and then the aunties gave me a talk on certain qualities to should maintain.

We kept things close to home. So I must say, we saved a lot by doing that. My sister in law did our decor, my brother the Photography, my sister styled my hair and our other photographer and videographer were from Bloemfontein, so we didn’t have to pay extra travelling or accommodation costs.

Planning our Venda wedding was exciting, but also very stressful. I would have never known how much actually goes into planning a wedding. We didn’t have a wedding planner, so we were assisted by family members and friends. Some parts were fun because we got to spend a lot of time together, sharing ideas, making things with our own hands and so on.

Advice

STAY WITHIN YOUR BUDGET. If you want a very expensive wedding and can afford it, go for it. If your finances are a bit tight, you can cut down on the number of guests or search for better deals, but know your budget and stay within the limits.Also, enjoy every moment. It only happens once.

I’m looking forward to building with my husband. Building a family, an empire and the house of God together.The Creative’